TutorialPart 1 of 3, A first week of deliberate AI use
Set up a working folder for AI notes
One folder, three files and a naming rule, so prompts, results and lessons stop disappearing into chat history.
SampleWritten to demonstrate the format. It does not describe the owner’s experience, results or recommendations.
Chat history is a poor filing system. Useful prompts get lost, results cannot be compared, and the reason a setting was changed is forgotten. This tutorial sets up a plain folder that keeps the useful parts.
What you will have at the end
- A folder with a predictable name and three starter files.
- A naming rule for saved results, so they sort by date.
- A habit: one line in a log file each time an AI answer is used for real work.
Create the folder
Any location works. Pick one that is backed up and not synced to a service you have not reviewed.
mkdir -p ~/ai-notes/briefs ~/ai-notes/results
cd ~/ai-notes
touch log.md briefs/README.md results/README.mdListing the folder shows briefs, results and log.md. If mkdir reports a permission error, choose a folder inside your home directory instead.
Name results by date
Save each result you keep as YYYY-MM-DD-short-topic.md. Dates first means the folder sorts in time order without any tool.
| Example file name | Why it works |
|---|---|
2026-09-07-meeting-summary.md | Sorts by date, says what it is |
summary final v2.md | Avoid: no date, spaces, unclear version |
Start the log
The log is one line per use: date, task, tool, and whether the answer needed changes. Over a few weeks it shows which tasks are worth handing to a model at all.
2026-09-07 | meeting summary | chat assistant | needed two correctionslog.md has one line in the format above. Next, write a brief you can reuse: Write a reusable task brief.